A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ND Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ND Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
ND Gorica asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karlo Tomašec is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Olimpija Ljubljana have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Anas Ibrahimović is in the works
The dugoutLuka Baruca knocks on the manager's door
BoardroomOpen for business: ND Gorica enter the window
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rene Prodanović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Filip Pobi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Tilen Vendramin has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaya Dukuly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Filip Pobi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Yaya Dukuly falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miha Žejen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Tilen Vendramin has written the date down.
Position 6, 19 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Andrija Drljo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Yaya Dukuly falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaya Dukuly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Taj Rožič Šuligoj and ND Gorica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Something was said to Yaya Dukuly and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Jure Handanovic left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ND Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaya Dukuly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every ND Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Zavrc runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Vid Brekalo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. ND Gorica told Marat Žlibanović something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Yaya Dukuly decided nobody was going anywhere. NK Krka had no time left to answer.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
NK Krka made ND Gorica work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Yaya Dukuly falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Andrija Drljo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lan Vidmar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Cene Kitek has his answer from ND Gorica; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Prosper Obiora Nwachukwu provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Andrija Drljo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lan Vidmar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Prosper Obiora Nwachukwu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against NK Maribor, and it could have been more.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Tim Matavž takes the afternoon — 9.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tim Matavž provided it, and the 9.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tilen Vendramin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
ND Gorica asked and NK Celje said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaya Dukuly has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. ND Gorica told Rene Prodanović something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jure Handanovic on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A brace, and Tim Matavž takes the afternoon — 9.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tim Matavž provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ND Gorica have done the hard part with NK Celje, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Filip Pobi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tilen Vendramin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
ND Gorica asked and Dinamo Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tim Matavž. 2‑1 against Rudar Velenje, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrija Drljo. 2‑1 against NK Krka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Andrija Drljo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.